LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Public Service Commission Chair Dan Scripps told members of the state Senate Tuesday that the state’s electric grid is “nowhere it needs to be,” as evidenced by the large number and long duration of utility outages that 1 million residents suffered through in February and early March.

Speaking at budget hearing for the PSC before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, Scripps said the commission will approve regulatory changes to improve utilities’ performance this week. (See Consumers, DTE Energy on the Hot Seat over Michigan Outages.)

On March 24, the commission will take final action to change how utilities pay credits to customers who lose power for extended periods of time. The proposed rules have gotten the go ahead from the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, Scripps told the subcommittee.

Scripps spoke to the subcommittee after the PSC held public hearings about the outages in Jackson, home of CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) and Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit, home of DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE).

Commissioners heard a wide variety of complaints from customers about the outages. Scripps told the subcommittee the PSC has had a major focus on outages for the last several years. The state suffers from too many outages and outages that last for too long, he said.

“We have a significant amount of work to do,” Scripps said.

An audit to investigate the state of Michigan’s utilities and how to reduce the number and duration of outages should improve the situation, he said. The PSC issued the bid request last week and hoped to have a decision on a company to conduct the audit by the end of April.

The PSC ordered the audit in October, prompting one senator to ask why it took so long to issue the bid request.   Scripps said it was the first time the PSC had sought an audit, and the commission needed time to develop the questions and areas it wanted to focus on. Even so, Scripps said, he was surprised at how long it took. It was “eye opening,” he said.

Sen. Sylvia Santana (D), who represents Dearborn, said she hoped the PSC would act on the audit’s recommendations — which are not expected before April 2024 — before considering any rate hike requests by the utilities.

The subcommittee chair, Sen. Mary Cavanagh (D), asked if the PSC would consider requiring more lines to be put underground to help reduce outages. Utility executives have also said they will look at moving some lines underground.  

Scripps said there was no single fix for reducing outages, but that moving lines underground — especially in some areas where it may be cheaper than trying to keep vegetative growth controlled — could be an option.